“This is happening too fast,” Amalie said. “No matter what you might have thought about Helena, I’m not—”
“I stopped comparing you with your sister the second day I knew you,” he said.
“Then what are we doing?”
“We were kissing.”
“Yes. And we both know where that was heading. Look, Grant, I’m only here for a short while. It would be wrong for us to become involved….”
Grant couldn’t listen. He stood mutely, helpless against her objections, knowing that the right words were out there somewhere, if only he could find them. The words that would make her understand how he felt when he looked at her, when she was pulled tight in his arms.
Hell. He’d blown it. He unhooked his coat from the kitchen chair, shrugged it onto his shoulders. “I’m sorry, Amalie. I never meant to offend you.”
“Oh, Grant.” She reached out a hand, trailed it down his sleeve. “I’m just not the sort of woman who gets involved in casual affairs.”
“Unlike your sister.” That was below the belt. He was sorry the second the words were out. “I apologize for that. I hear what you’re saying. I guess I’m just disappointed.”
“So am I,” she said softly, which confused the hell of out him. If she was sorry, then why…?
Bloody hell. He zipped up his jacket. Nothing she said made sense, at least not to him. Did all men have this much trouble comprehending the opposite sex? On his way to the door, he remembered promising Davin he’d give them cross-country skiing lessons. “About tomorrow…” he began.
“I’ll explain you couldn’t make it.”
That surprised him. “I’d rather not let him down.”
“Oh.”
“I’m happy to give Davin lessons, Amalie. You, too, if you’re okay with it.”
“I’ve never been on cross-country skis before. Neither has Davin.”
“Hey, I’m up for the challenge.”
“I only hope I am.”
“You will be.” He glanced at the door, then back to the woman. Now he was sure he saw regret in her eyes. He wished the night could have ended differently. Wished he could understand if the fault had been his or just the circumstances.
“If I got a little carried away tonight, well, I’m sorry about that.”
“You don’t have to be sorry, Grant. I’m not.”
He stepped out into the hall, then turned back for a final glance. Wisps of blond hair were trailing from her braid, her cheeks were pink, her eyes so blue…God help him, how could he leave?
“Just so you know,” he said. “My feelings for you…they’re definitely not casual.”
He didn’t wait to see her reaction to that. Just headed for the stairs, treading lightly so as not to disturb the other tenants. He’d go home now and fall into bed, but he knew he wouldn’t sleep.
And he’d thought Helena was the dangerous one.
AMALIE SPENT THE NIGHT thinking of Grant’s kisses and the way she’d felt dancing in his arms. Around three in the morning, she began to wonder if she’d made a big mistake turning him away.
True, the timing was rotten and the possibilities for their romance to go anywhere seemed limited, but Grant was special. She wasn’t likely to run into someone like him in the hospital corridors of St. Mike’s, or in the frozen food section of Loblaws.
So why not grasp the opportunity while she had it?
Somehow her youth had passed, now she was approaching thirty without ever having truly fallen in love. Not that she wasn’t happy. She loved Davin and never regretted her decision to raise him herself. Her job had its rewards and she enjoyed it; she had lots of friends.
It was just that in Grant’s arms she was reminded of the things she’d missed out on.
Romance and love. Marriage and a child, a brother or sister for Davin.
The next day, after coffee and toast, Amalie prepared for the planned skiing expedition. She hiked the rental skis on her shoulders and went outside to the car. For the first time since they’d arrived, it was neither snowing nor cloudy. For a moment she paused, admiring the jutting snow-capped mountains against the backdrop of an aquamarine sky. It was beautiful, she had to admit.
She laid the skis out on the roof rack of the Jetta and, with a length of cord, tied them securely, doubling over several times to make sure the knots would hold. The noise of a loud engine caught her attention and she glanced up to see a dirty white van pull out from the opposite side of the street.
The van moved forward a few yards and stopped in front of her. Then the driver rolled down his window. It was the guy from the bar. The one who’d been watching her so intensely. He appeared younger in the light of day, about her age, and quite unsure of himself.
Just as he was about to speak, Heidi came out of the apartment wearing a red sweatsuit, with Mickey Mouse on the front. The same suede slippers were on her feet, and once more her hair was in curlers. Amalie wondered when she was planning to take them out.
“Davin’s still finishing his pancakes,” Heidi said. “Come in, I’ve made one for you.”
The man rolled up his window and drove off. Amalie gave the rope one final tug; it seemed secure to her.
“Thanks, Heidi, but I’ve already eaten.” She followed her landlady to the main-floor apartment. “I hope Davin wasn’t any trouble last night.”
“We watched horror movies until midnight.” Heidi sounded smug.
Inwardly, Amalie groaned.
“Then had a hot toddy and went to bed.” Heidi caught Amalie’s stricken look and laughed. “Didn’t put any rum in Davin’s. But there was plenty in mine.”
She paused at the door to the apartment, before piercing Amalie with another of her scalding looks. “But not so much that I didn’t hear you and Grant get home. And him leave a half hour after that.”
Amalie didn’t know whether to laugh or blush.
Heidi, as usual, forestalled any reaction. “Only half an hour? Surely the two of you can do better than that.”
“NOT TOO EXCITING,” Grant said, standing at the beginning of the trail, at the base of Summit Road. “But it’s a good place for learning.”
Ahead, two tracks had been groomed into the hard-packed snow. Grant had explained that you just put one ski in each track, then pushed forward. Sort of like a slow jog, he’d said, keeping your poles on either side for balance.
It sounded like tough work to Amalie. Plus she was cold. Grant had insisted she leave her heavier coat behind and wear layers instead. So she had on a long-sleeved T-shirt with a sweater and a windbreaker over that. But she still shivered in the stiff breeze.
The happy grin on Davin’s face made it all worthwhile, though. He’d slipped on his boots and snapped them into the skis as if he’d been doing this all his life. Now he stood just up ahead, stamping his feet impatiently.
“Can we get going?”
After three kilometers, Amalie was glad she’d taken Grant’s advice about her coat. She’d already peeled away her windbreaker and stuffed it into the pack on her back, and still she was hot.
As she approached Grant, who’d stopped to wait for her, she allowed herself a small complaint. “This is harder than it looks.”
She’d been passed by several more experienced skiers, who’d glided past her in a few effortless strokes.
“What am I doing wrong?” Davin was so far ahead he was out of sight. Grant kept skiing back and forth between the two of them.
“You’re doing great for a beginner. Hang in there, we’re more than halfway. This trail loops back to where we parked our cars.”
“Ohhh.” She planted her poles in front of her and leaned her weight on them. “Can’t we stop for a break? Where’s Davin?”
“Just a little farther on. We can rest for ten minutes, then I’ll run ahead and catch him.”
“Easy for you to say.” And do. Amalie envied the excellent conditioning that made this outing little more than a walk around the block to him.
And he lo
oked so good, too, which was doubly unfair. His blue GoreTex ski pants and jacket clung to his every well-defined muscle as if to taunt her. See what you turned away last night?
Lord, even Heidi thought she was a fool. Only half an hour? Surely you can do better…
“I have hot chocolate and trail mix.” Grant slung his pack off his shoulders.
“Is that a bribe? If so, I accept.” She followed him off the trail to a fallen tree behind a screen of evergreens. Placing her skied feet carefully on either side of the log, she sat down and watched him pour from the thermos.
She accepted the drink and a handful of mixed nuts and dried fruit. “Among the dozens of people who’ve passed me already were two children who didn’t look old enough to walk, and a pregnant woman with a child on her back.”
Grant laughed, then settled beside her. After a few seconds of silent regard, he reached up to tug at her pale-blue headband. “You’re doing okay. Your balance is good. It’s just a question of finding the right rhythm.”
Funny how that little touch made her insides glitter, just like snow crystals in sunlight. She remembered him saying his feelings for her weren’t casual, and wondered what he’d meant, exactly.
When she was done her cocoa, he took the cup from her and set it on the ground by his pack.
“Thanks, Grant. That was just what I needed.”
“Really?”
At the question in his voice, she knew he was right. It wasn’t nutritional sustenance that her body required at this moment, but something quite different, something that thrilled her almost as much as it scared her. In the back of her mind, she heard her mother’s voice: No man will want you, and she thought, It isn’t true!
Or was it? Grant stood and offered a hand. When she took it, he pulled her up so quickly she almost tumbled into his arms.
“Hey,” he said, straightening her with his hands on her waist. “You may not be the best skier out there, but you’re definitely the prettiest.”
Now she was having trouble catching her breath again and it had nothing to do with skiing. The look in his eyes was reminiscent of last night, only not so intense. If she’d thought she’d scared him off with her parting words, obviously she’d been mistaken.
And right now she was glad of it.
“Grant—”
For one beautiful moment she anticipated his kiss. First she closed her eyes, then leaned slightly forward. Just as she felt the brush of his lips, though, her right foot slid forward, crossing one ski over the other. Grant tightened his hold on her waist as she lost her balance. For a moment she thought he’d saved her. Then his eyes widened, and he fell backward, bringing her right on top of him.
“Ouch!”
“I’m sorry!”
The tangle of skis and poles and limbs resembled an advanced game of pickup sticks. Amalie, whose fall had been nicely broken by Grant’s body, started to apologize again, but Grant was laughing too hard to hear her.
“I told you I was hopeless,” she said, trying to roll onto the ground so he could get up. She was mortified by her clumsiness. Trust her to spoil one of the most romantic moments of her life. But Grant’s arms were still around her waist and he wasn’t letting go.
“Grant?”
He wasn’t laughing anymore. All at once it was so quiet she could hear them both breathing.
“Are you okay?”
“Not yet,” he said. And then he kissed her.
CHAPTER EIGHT
ALTHOUGH SHE DIDN’T COMPLAIN, Grant could see Amalie was tired after their ski. He loaded the equipment on the top of her Jetta for her, then suggested they go out for pizza.
“You’re not even breathing hard, are you?” Amalie pulled off her blue headband and her fair hair fell forward. He would have liked to brush it back with his fingers, but Davin was there, kicking out the row of icicles that had formed along the bumper of his truck.
“I’ve spent half my life on skis,” he reminded her. He bent to help her remove her boots. “It takes a while to get in condition.”
“Davin doesn’t seem tired, either.”
Grant glanced over his shoulder. Davin was flashing one of the longer icicles like a sword in the air, leaping from one side to the other as he dueled an imaginary opponent.
“He’s a kid. Come on, food is what you need. Follow my truck. The restaurant’s on Mackenzie Avenue.” He dug his keys out of his pants pocket, then waited while Amalie got Davin settled in the Jetta.
One of his buddies had left Parks Canada a few months ago to open Pizza Paradise, a franchise operation headquartered in Winnipeg. Out of his desire to see his friend succeed, and his own love of pizza, Grant had quickly become a regular.
Once everyone was ready, Grant took off down the road, careful to keep an eye on the Jetta behind him. Despite her complaints, he thought Amalie had caught on to cross-country skiing rather easily. It helped that she had downhill experience. As for Davin, he was a natural on skis. Grant figured the boy would love the challenge of the backcountry—if Amalie could ever be persuaded to let him go.
That he found himself thinking of the future again—when he already knew they didn’t have one—worried him. Yes, Amalie was different from her sister. But how different? He didn’t want to hurt her or the boy. He didn’t want to hurt himself, either.
Last thing he’d expected was to fall for Helen Fremont’s sister. But that was exactly what was happening. He knew there were plenty of people in town who’d have a hard time believing it. Most especially Ramsey’s wife, Denise. She was still angry about Amalie being in town, and was unwilling to listen to a word he spoke in her defense.
Which reminded him, he’d promised to work on the Carters’ basement tomorrow, and had been invited to stay to dinner afterward. Denise’s parents had driven back to Kelowna, and he knew she was lonely. He also knew she wouldn’t appreciate him spending so much time with Amalie and Davin. She’d see it as a breach of loyalty, which was ridiculous.
But maybe Denise was entitled to a little leeway. She’d just lost her husband, after all. And Amalie looked so much like the woman who’d been responsible.
Grant slowed and gestured Amalie toward a parking space, then levered his own truck into a spot farther down the block. Blaine Macleod greeted him in the restaurant’s foyer.
As usual, Grant did an involuntary double take. Man, but it was strange to see Blaine in a white shirt and tie, instead of his former park uniform. Grant didn’t know if he’d ever get used to the change. Or understand it. Why choose to work inside a building when you could be out in the mountains, instead?
“Hey, buddy, good to see you.” Blaine’s glance slid to Amalie; predictably, his eyes widened.
“How’s the pizza business, Blaine? This is Amalie Fremont and her nephew, Davin.”
“Welcome to Revelstoke. Sorry about your sister. You sure are the spitting image…” He pulled his eyes back to Grant. “In answer to your question, business is good. Here, let me show you to a booth.”
Blaine clapped a hand on Grant’s back. “I tell you, being my own boss is the way to go.”
“I’m glad you’re enjoying it. Have the guys at the franchise headquarters eased up a bit, then?”
“Nah. They’re still sending someone out every three weeks or so to check up on me. But he’s spending less time with each visit so that’s a good sign.”
Blaine chatted with Davin for a few minutes about school. Davin told him about the research project he was doing on avalanches and Blaine said he had a story to tell him.
“I’ll catch you later, when it’s not so busy.” Then he left to greet a new group of customers.
“Seems like a nice guy,” Amalie said.
“Sure. We’re all nice guys here in Revelstoke.”
Amalie smiled, then opened her menu. After a lengthy comparison of likes and dislikes, they settled on a large combination pizza and drinks. Once the order was placed, Blaine came back and asked Davin if he’d like to see the kitchen.
“I’ll tell you about one of my adventures on the mountain while we’re at it,” he said, winking at Amalie and Grant.
As soon as her nephew was out of hearing range, Amalie leaned over the table. “Tell me, how is Denise Carter doing?”
“Honestly? Not that good.” Right away, Grant felt bad for burdening Amalie. He could tell she felt responsible for Denise’s pain, even though it was her sister’s fault.
“Poor woman. She’s probably still in shock.”
Grant agreed. Ramsey’s death still didn’t seem real to him; he supposed the adjustment would happen over months.
“Denise and Ramsey were married going on eleven years,” he said. “Most of that time, I’d swear they were happy. And from the moment Colin was born, Ramsey was a great father. It seems a damn shame for the memory of all those years to be tarnished by the events of the past few weeks…”
“I wish there were something I could do to help her.”
“You’re not thinking about leaving town, are you?” Grant reached out to grasp her hand. “I don’t want you to go.”
“But my being here is making her unhappy, isn’t it?”
He couldn’t deny that. Unfair as it was, Denise’s reaction was understandable, too. But still, he didn’t want Amalie and Davin to return to Toronto. He wasn’t sure where his attraction for her was headed, but he wanted more time to find out.
“It must be hard,” he said, “to have someone dislike you just because you look like someone else.”
Amalie nodded. “When we were going to school together, that always happened. Only our friends could tell us apart. The other kids tended to treat us as if we were a single unit.”
“All Denise needs is a chance to get to know you as an individual.”
“Not much chance of that happening. I—I won’t be here that long.”
“No?” He squeezed her fingers, mimicking the pressure in his own chest. Her uncertainty fueled his desire to be with her as much as possible in the days remaining to them.
Davin came back from the kitchen at that moment, and Grant released Amalie’s hand, then slid over on the bench seat to make room.
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